For an entire week, we blacked out our store to create a tactile shopping experience. Through the manipulation of perception, removing sight, we hoped to lead the shoppers to question their shopping tendencies and focuses. Is the tactile experience still important in shopping or is online shopping the mode of the future? Do you care about our local Brick and Mortar shops?

After shopping in the dark, we asked our shoppers to fill out a short survey! The survey results revealed a lot of questions, comments, and suggestions about our Sense Up, an experimental shopping experience!

We loved your responses! From considering how and why we value objects, to the dilemma of our current mode of rushing through experiences—this shopping experience was purely an example of many of these topics.

This experience revealed that people crave and desire unique experiences in life and truly value your local and in-person shops. Although it was a bit daunting or overwhelming to a few of you, your willingness to participate and start a dialogue was impressive and appreciated! Lets keep the dialogue going, spread the word! Here's a little bit about the lovely people that stopped by:

FAVORITE RESPONSES FROM SURVEY QUESTIONS

Question: Did this shopping experiment spark any questions or ideas?

Answer: Yes. More so than I expected. It made me reconsider the value of being able to interact with something before I buy or don't buy it. This experience made me reconsider how I value objects.

Answer: Yes, I had underestimated the importance of texture to me

Answer: Yes, I had underestimated the importance of texture to me

Answer: My taste is more expensive in the dark

Answer: Tactical experience with items I would use in my hands like a wallet were awesome because it gives me a chance to feel how it would fit in my hands when I use it.

Question: In what ways was this valuable or invaluable experience?

Answer: I had the intention today to do something new and out of my comfort zone. This gave me the feeling of being a bit adventurous.

Answer: It was an interesting and unique sensory relationship with products that I may otherwise have overlooked.

Answer: It felt like a mindfulness exercise. Interacting with objects without sight made me consider the objects with my other senses, notice more than I otherwise would, be more careful and attentive and attuned to my surroundings. Calming and exciting at once.

Thank you to everyone who visited our sensory pop up! To see more of your responses, view the graphs here!

The first #NuBeHunt is over and we’re so excited to announce the winners!

Congrats to #TeamVashon for taking home the gold!

Second place goes to #TeamBurningWood and third to #TeamOddfellows!

Choose your prizes here and send us an email letting us know your choice! First place gets first pick and so forth.

We had so many great entries that we couldn’t limit the prizes to just three teams, SO we’re giving honorary $50 gift cards to #TeamAlyssaWins for her "NuBe like boobie" haiku and #TeamVance for their reused candle container.

Thanks to everyone who participated! We had so much fun viewing the entries. Here are a few of our favorites:

If you’re hungry for more NuBe Hunting, you can view all of our posts through our hashtags or follow the links below and log into Instagram via Iconsquare:

I've been thinking a lot about the growing success of e-commerce and its effect on our local businesses. What would happen to the neighborhood I grew up in if our dependable grocery store of 60 years (which I've been frequenting for the past 51) went out of business? I personally know that many residents here would be devastated. I depend on them for that last minute cilantro I forgot to grab at Whole Foods, or that load of Ice Cream my stoned sister is craving.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE >> Nube Green's focus on U.S. and locally-made products means we have many unique gifts for your Valentine's sweetheart. Our "small and special" suppliers are artists and craftspeople who all have a story behind their goods. Here are a few items to spark ideas as you shop for your loved one!

Our 2013-2014 Winter Lookbook is bursting at the virtual seams with the best American Made & Sourced goods of the season. Browse 44 pages of shoppable style collections, featuring looks we love to build a green home and wardrobe.